Carpet gripper



March 15, 19930 H. J. HILL 2,928,115

CARPET GRIPPER Filed Oct. 19, 1956 INVENTO/P. Hnrevav J. HILL.

BY HIS ATTORNEYS HARE/6, Mac/4, Fosrse & HaRR/s 2,928,115 CARPET GRIPPERHarvey J. Hill, Monterey Park, Calif., assignor to Roberts ManufacturingCo., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California ApplicationOctober 19, 1956, Serial No. 617,095 1 Claim. (Cl. 16-16) This inventionrelates to gripperstrips for installing wall-to-wall carpeting and thelike and, in particular, to a carpet gripper strip'adapted for rapid andeasy installation, especially in poorly illuminated locations such ascorners, closets and the like.

Carpet grippers having sloping carpet engaging means with the pointsthereof directed toward one edge of the gripper strip are installed atthe junction of a wall and the floor with the points directed towardsthe wall. In making such an installation, it hasbeen necessary to feelthe points or visually inspect the slant of the pins in order toproperly orient the carpet gripper prior to nailing in place. The floorsof rooms, especially corners and closets, are dimly lit and whatillumination is available is usually partially obscured by theinstaller, resulting in loss of time, eye fatigue, missed and be'ritnailsandmisaligned or reversed gripperstrips. These problems he comemore vexing when short pieces of carpet gripper are being used tocomplete the installation. I

It is an object of the invention to provide a carpet gripper which iseasily, rapidly and accurately installed in both well and poorlyilluminated locations and in long or short lengths with a minimum offatigue on the part of the installer. It is a further object of theinvention to provide a carpet gripper strip having longitudinal bands ofcontrasting colors to indicate proper orientation 2,923,115 PatentedMar. 15, 196d The carpet gripper of the invention includes a relativelylong and narrow strip of a thin material such as plywood, aluminum orthe like. A plurality of carpet hooking nails 11 are set in the strip 10with pointed ends 12 of the nails 11 extending upward from the topsurface T of the strip 10; All of the pointed ends 12 are preferably ofthe strip. A further object of the invention is to pro vide a carpetgripper having preset mounting nails which are of a color contrastingwith the color of the strip against which they are viewed.

It is another object of the invention to provide a carpet gripper havingpre-set mounting nails which are so located as to produce maximumstrength in the completed installation.

While much carpet gripper stripping is provided with,

pre-set mounting nails, some stripping is not. Furthermore, the ends oflengths of carpet gripper which have been cut to a particular size andshort lengths of carpet gripper require the use of additional nails forfixing the gripper to the floor. It isan object of the invention toprovide a carpet gripper strip having a shallow groove in the uppersurface thereof extending longitudinally along the strip at the locationwhere mounting nails are to be inserted, thereby assuring properlocationof mounting nails inserted by' the installer.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novelcombinations and arrangements of components, which will more fullyappear in the course of the following description. The drawing shows apreferred embodiment of the present invention which is given by way ofillustration and example.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a length of carpet gripper embodying theteachings of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. l; and IFig- 3 is a sectional view showing the carpet gripper ofth vention inuse gripping a carpet.

oriented in the same direction, being to the left or wall edge 13 of thestrip shown in Fig. 2.

Longitudina'lly extending color bands 16 and 17 are provided on the topsurface of the strip 10, the band 16 being located away from thewall-edge 13 of the strip" and preferably extending over not more thanone-half the width of the'strip. The bands are of contrasting colors andit is preferred that the contrast-be one of value rather than of hue, orcolor intensity, since such a value contrast is normally moreharmonious, more readily seen under poor lighting conditions andproduces less Ivisual distraction and strain on the eyes than does hireor intensity. contrast. In the preferred embodiment of the inventionillustrated herein, where the strip 10 is composed of plywood, the band17 may be the natural light brown color of the wood and theband 16 maybe a'dark brown paint applied to the top surface of the strip;

by conventional methods.

While thebands of color on the carpet gripper of the invention have beenillustrated in the drawing as being solid, this is not necessary to thepractice of the invention}:

A band ofcolor may include lettering, a design, a stippledor polka dotpattern, or the like. When the gripper strip is made of wood, a colorband having local variations in color due to the grain of the wood maybe obtained. Therefore the term color band is intended to include anarea over which the coloring may vary but which produces the visualefiect of a band of color.

A plurality of mounting nails 20 are spaced longitudinally along thestrip '10 with the nails imbedded into the strip through the uppersurface thereof. These mounting nails are colored to contrast with thecolor of the band 17,,the nails being dark blue or black in thepreferred embodiment of the invention having the natural light brownwood color for the band 17.

It has been found that the maximum strength of the installed carpetgripper is obtained when the mounting nails 20 are positioned along aline at 40 percent of the Width of the strip measured from the wall edge13. Furthermore, it has been found that the strength decreases veryrapidly when this figure is made smaller, whereas the strength decreasesat a moderate rate as the position is moved away from the wall edge;*TherefOre, it is preferred to always locate the mounting nails morethan one-third but less than two-thirds of the width of the strip asmeasured from the wall edge and preferably within a zone defined bylines at 35 and 50 percent of the Width of the strip, measured from thewall edge 13.

A longitudinally extending shallow groove 22 is lo cated in the topsurface of the strip 10 along the pre ferred location line for themounting nails.

The carpet gripper of theinvention may be used in installingwall-to-wall carpeting by placing the strip on a floor 24 (Fig. 3) withthe wall edge 13 spaced slightly from a wall 25, the wall edgepreferably being beveled to provide clearance for dirt andirregularities appearing at the junction of the floor 24 and wall 25 andto provide a wedging grip on the edge of the carpet. A rug pad 26 iscustomarily placed on the floor 24 and a carpet 27 is laid over the pad26 and engaged with the nails 11- by well known methods, the raw edge ofthe carpet being forced into the gap between the wall edge 13 of thegripper and tedious and time; consuming operation and when per formedover an eight hour, day, produces many a sore finger. However, with thecarpet gripper strip of the invention, the installer need only note theposition of the colored bandsin order toproperly orientthe-strip. Sincethe. bands. are ofstrongly contrastingcolors, thisform of constructionis equally usable with long and short lengths of, carpet. gripper, stripandtin' dimly litlocations.

When installing carpet gripper in dimly litldeations, trouble is oftenencountered with properlydriving; the mounting. nails, the nails oftenbeing bent over and. oecasionally being missed. With. the carpet gripperstrip. of. the invention, where the nails are of acolor contrasting withthe surface of the strip against which they are viewed, as seen inEig.1,, the likelihood ofbentor missed nails ismaterially reduced. and,accordingly; thespeed' of installation may be increased. Testshaveindicated. that the installation time under good lighting conditions forcarpetgripper embodying the invention'is in the order. of sixpercentless than. that for'conventional carpet gripper and that under oneparticular set of poor lighting conditions, there isa reduction of morethantwenty percent. At. corners and around irregular shapes,ivhere shortlengths, of carpet gripper are often used, the saving. of time and.eifort is especially noted. Itisoften necessaryv tonseadditional.mountingnails tozsnpplement those pnemountedinthe strip ininstallingthe carpet gripper. Such. additional nails maybe used attheend of. a strip andinshort strips which have oneor noprernounted,nails therein. 'The. groove22 servesas alocating. means. for; properly.positioning thenails relative. totheedges. oft the.

strip andthe. naiIsmay. be. positioned. in the grooveentirely by ieel.Such,- a groove. does not: requireaparticillhr. size, of, nail. and,.being very shallow, does not materially al'ter the strength of thecompleted installation.

It. is. clear. that. some features of the invention. can be usedindependently of others and that the invention is capable of a varietyof embodiments. The invention is not to be limited to the specificembodiment disclosed herein but as defined in the following claim.

I claim as my invention:

In a carpet gripper suitable for installation in both long and shortstrips, the combination, of: a long and narrow strip of. a relativelylight colored material, said. strip having an upper surface providedwith a longitudinal band' adjacent one edge and of a relatively darkcolor, said upper surface having a shallow groove extendinglongitudinall'y therealong parallel; to an edge of said strip wherebyinstallation nails may be driven through said strip at saidgroove at anypoint along said strip; a

plurality of spaced nails projecting into said strip through said grooveand extending thereabove, said nails being of a darkzcolorcontrastingW-itlrthe color of saidmateri'al; and a pluralityof carpethooking means having pointed ends; projectingzupward from said strip.

References Cited in the. file of this patent V UNITED STATES'PATENTSOTHER REFERENCESv EZ.-.Lay- Pamphlenpage 1-, Dec. 4, 1953.

